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Senate-Obama immigration divide

LAS VEGAS – The immigration reform plan President Barack Obama outlined Tuesday sounds a lot like the new bipartisan proposal from the Senate — and on the broad points, it is.

But the differences are in the details. And those details, with the liberal stamp Obama put on his approach here, could be the difference between a deal and another failed effort on an issue that Washington has struggled with for years.

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POLITICO LIVE: Immigration state of play

Obama’s speech launched a campaign for legislation built on several overarching principles: provide a path to citizenship for the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants, streamline legal immigration, crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers and strengthen border security.

That’s all in the blueprint offered Monday by a group of eight senators, led by Republican John McCain and Democrat Chuck Schumer.

That’s where things get tricky.

Senior administration officials said the contrasts and omissions aren’t red lines for the president. But they do foreshadow the points of tension in the upcoming legislative negotiations.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle is a trigger for citizenship that Republicans such as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) describe as a must-have.

Obama wouldn’t make citizenship for undocumented immigrants contingent upon a declaration that border has been secured. And he highlighted that difference with the Senate plan in his speech Tuesday, saying “it must be clear from the outset that there is a pathway to citizenship.”

The president didn’t explicitly endorse the need for a temporary worker program, which he did do in his 2011 immigration blueprint. The Senate proposal would set up a process for American companies to hire low-skilled labor under certain circumstances — a concept that’s divided labor and business — but the White House doesn’t view such a program as essential, given the current economic conditions.

Obama also didn’t embrace a proposal from the Senate group that would set up an expedited citizenship process for agricultural workers who commit to working in the industry.

And although he didn’t mention it in his speech, his plan explicitly includes protections for gay couples. Unlike the Senate blueprint, Obama’s plan “treats same-sex families as families by giving U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents the ability to seek a visa on the basis of a permanent relationship with a same-sex partner.”

Obama praised the work of the bipartisan group of senators, but said that if the Senate did not act on it, he would send his own bill to Congress for an up or down vote.

“It’s important for us to recognize that the foundation for bipartisan action is already in place,” Obama said. “If Congress is unable to act in a timely fashion, I will send up a bill based on my proposal and insist that they vote on it right away.”